Flow film photographic apparatus



April 1954 w. w. EATON ETAL FLOW FILM PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS 9Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 4, 1949 ZSnventors Will/am life/on (f ora/420/50)! to: eg

April 27, 1954 w. w. EATON ET AL 2,676,514

FLOW FILM PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Filed Oct. 4, 1949 9 Sheets-Sheet 2' M2v INVENT Will/21m 2 4/0 5y ara/d 770,490)? April 27, 1954 w. w. EATON ETAL FLOW FILM FHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS 9 SheetsSheet 3 Fiied Oct. 4,

April 27, 1954 w. W.,EATON ETAL 2,676,514

FLOW FILM PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Filed Oct. 4, 1949 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 0b.hmg

RNEY

April 27, 1954 w. w. EATON ET AL FLOW FILM PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS 9sheets-sheet 5 Filed 001:. 4, 1949 s r w e n n 3 Ap 27, 1954 w. w. EATONETAL 2,676,514

FLOW FILM PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Filed Oct. 4, 1949 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 G MS MM 0 w.

April 27, 1954 w. w. EATON ETAL 2,676,514

FLOW FILM PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS mvsu'ro s mll 'am Wfa fon W)" Id 70/ 0O NEY April 27, 1954 W. W. EATON ET AL FLOW FILM PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUSFiled Oct. 4, 1949 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 April 27, 1954 w. w. EATON ET AL v2,676,514

FLOW FILM PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Filed Oct. 4, 1 49 I 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 IZ'mnentot' n IV/I/Mm' (farm Q #410 70/5011 Patented Apr. 27, 1954 FLOW'FILM' PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS William Eaton, Milford, Conn and Harold T.Olson, Baldwin, N. Y., assignors :to Remington Rand 111e,, New York, N.-Y., a corporation of Delaware Application October 4, 1949,-'Seria1 No.'119,525

(Cl. -8S-24) 8 Claims.

The present invention relates to flow film apparatus and is concernedwith the effective utilization of alternating current operated lightingfor the illumination of the traveling document in the photographicaperture. The invention is primarily, though not exclusively, directedto the reflective utilization of alternating current operatedfluorescent lighting for such purposes.

. For several reasons it is desirable to employ fluorescent lighting forilluminatingdoouments in the photographic field of flow film-apparatus,forexample, for a given light intensity fluorescent lighting is .muchmore economical in cost and compactness than incandescent electriclamps, also the :latter generate considerablymore heat. ,On the otherhand, however, it has been found inpractice that fluorescent lightingoperated onan alternating current circuit tends to result in documentillumination which for flow film photography is uneven enough inintensity to be perceptible on the processed films, such unevennessmanifesting itself as cycle marks which are transverse spaced bandscaused .by density variations produced on the. finally processedtraveling film. To some extent, es-

pecially when operating on current supply systems with a lowerfrequencythan the now fairly standard sixty cycle installations, thephenomenon of cycle lines may occur under certain operating conditionseven where ordinary-incandescent filament lamps are employed. ingeneral, however, the retention properties of incandescent filamentlamps are such that the cycle lines'are not unduly, obvious on theprocessed film.;an.d may be tolerated if high quality repro-\dllotion'lis not essential.

,Thou h the lighting circuit could, of course, be worked on directcurrent, the practical difficulties involved as well as other inherentdisadvantages suggest. that "direct current operated lighting in flowfilm photography. especially where fluorescent lighting is employed, isnot a commercially practice-h proposition. It is believed that for thatreason and also on account of the phenomena of cycle linesproduced whenfluorescent lamps are actuated with alternating current, fluorescentlighting has hitherto proved impractical for commercial applications offlow film photography.

It is an Object of the pesent invention to providesflow film pho oraphic apparatus in. whi h the inherent difliculties hereinbeforedescribed, and particularly those hitherto preventing the efiective useof fluorescent lighting in such apeerntusi ar ..-ov rc0me. To that-end,in apparel:

2 tus according to the invention, the effective aperture width is madeexactly equal to the distance traveled by a document in a whole numberof current cycles. The aperture may be a fixed aperture of the requiredwidth but it is preferably adjustable.

The inventionwill now be described with reference to the accompanyingdiagrammatic drawings which illustrate the invention as applied to flowfilm photographic"apparatus for double sided document copying, that isto say or photographically copying both the front and. the b'ackrof eachdocument in its passage through the aperture. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a theoretical plotting of two different relations of a cycleto a 'haphazardly chosen aperture, the plot being representative ofvariation of light intensity against time.

Fig/ 2 is a somewhat similar theoretical plotting showing therelationship between two cycles when the eil'ective aperture width iscorrectly chosen'inaccordance with the teachings of the presentinvention, but in this showing an effectiveembodiment of the apertureand a typical arrangement of fluorescent tube lighting is also embodied.

V Fig. 3 is an end view ofthe mechanism shown with the greater part ofthe casing removed but with its general form mainly indicated in dot anddash lines.

Fig; 4 is a view-somewhat similar to Fig. 3 but shows parts of theframework broken away, the better to revealdocument feed, aperture andlighting arrangements.

- Fig. 5 is a front view illustrating the main structure of theapparatus, certain parts being broken away and other parts being omittedto facilitate explanation.

Fig. 6 is a plan view approximately correspond ing to Fig. 5, but withcertain parts omitted.

Fig; lis a fragmentary detailed cross section through the "document feedmechanism in the immediate vicinity of the aperture.

Fig. 8'1isa fragmentary front View showing a typical arrangement foraperture width adjustmerit and corresponds with the showing of Fig. '7.

Fig, .9 is a fragmentary front view partly broken away and partly" insection to illustrate the detail of latch mechanism operable to giveaccess tothe document feed mechanism.

.Fig. 10 isa fragmentary end elevation corre spending with the showingof Fig. 7 but looking at tnatpart of the apparatus from a directionopposite to that item whichit is viewed in Fig. 3..

Fig. 11 is a front perspective view of the apparatus according to theinvention.

Fig. 12 is a circuit diagram showing the theoretical electrical circuitof the apparatus.

Before proceeding with the description of the apparatus which is thesubject of the present invention, it is thought desirable first toexplain the phenomenon which results in the production of theundesirable cycle lines.

In flow film photography the document is illum inated while it passesthrough the aperture which is constituted by a rectangular slot and theimage is focussed for recording on the moving film in the camera. Thetotal exposure for any given portion of the document is thereforeroughly proportional to the product of the illumination multiplied bythe time taken by that given portion of the document in traveling acrossthe aperture. With fluorescent lamps working on an alternating currentcircuit however any given point of the document in the aperture issubjected to a continuously varying illumination intensity which isgraphically represented at A in Fig. 1 by a schematic plot of lampintensity against time, where the leading edge D of a document entersthe top of the aperture at the beginning of a cycle. The frequency ofthe recurring cycles can be represented by a cycle time T which in thecase of the now commonly employed operating frequency of 60 cycles is/120 of a second between periods of maximum intensity, between whichperiods there is an appreciable falling 01f in intensity of theillumination. The aperture is represented in Fig. l as being of width W,and in its travel across the aperture the document will be illuminatedby several successive cycles. As represented at A, the leading edge D ofthe document gets the benefit of three complete successive cycles Al,A2, A3, plus the unshaded portion A l, of the fourth cycle, theremainder of which fourth cycle is cut off as the leading edge D passesout at the bottom of the aperture during the fourth cycle. A subsequentpoint DI of the document seen in relation to the plot B enters theaperture in such a relation to the first cycle that it gets the benefitof the unshaded part B1 of the first cycle plus all of each of the threesubsequent cycles B2, B3 and B4. The total exposure of any given pointof the ducument is, of course, the instantaneous intensity asrepresented graphically by the area of the unshaded portions under thecurves A and B and it will be evident that those integrals are notequal, because, though the time factor is the same in respect of A l andBI, the total effective illumination during that time is perceptiblydifferent. The difference in total exposure to which the points D and DIof the document are subjected must manifest itself as correspondingvariation of the image density on the finally processed film, and it isin that way that the cycle lines are produced. Since probably the mainapplication of flow film photography for commercial purposes is in themicrofilm copying of documents such variation cannot be tolerated and itis believed that the apparatus according to the present invention is thefirst commercially used which employs alternating current operatedfluorescent lighting successfully for such purposes.

The invention centers around the discovery thatprovided the illuminationis constant across the aperture--the cycle lines can be eliminated byusing an aperture width exactly equal to the distance traveled by thedocument in a whole number of current cycles. That is to say, workiiiing on '60 cycle alternating current with peak intensities occurring attime intervals of of a second, in a time X/l20 seconds, where X is aWhole number. That is true because, under those conditions the timeintegral of light intensity is then the same for every point on thedocument regardless of its relationship to the current cycles at theinstants of entering and leaving the aperture. By way of illustrativeexplanation attention is now directed to Fig. 2 wherein there is seen onan enlarged scale the plates 20 and 2| between which the document isilluminated by the fluorescent lamp 22 mainly enclosed by the tubularlamp casing 23 so that light is concentrated and projected through theslot 24. The aperture width is clearly indicated in Fig. 2 by referenceWI as defined between the lower extremity of the tubular lamp casing 23and the upper edge of the plate 25. The graphical plot E shows therelationship when the leading edge of a document 26 enters the apertureprecisely at the beginning of a cycle. In that event the document isilluminated in its passage across the aperture by the integral of threesuccessive cycles and no more. An immediately subsequent point of thedocument entering the aperture in the relation to a current cycleplotted at F gets the benefit of the unshaded portion Fl of the. firstcycle and all of the next two subsequent cycles plus the unshadedportion F2 of the fourth cycle. It will be evident that the shadedportion missed at the beginning of the first cycle is exactlycompensated by the unshaded portion F2 picked up at the beginning of thefourth cycle, and that Will always be so provided the correct relationbetween aperture width and document speed is maintained, and theintegral of intensity will be the same for all points of the document.

To facilitate final accurate adjustment of the aperture width it ispreferred that the plate 25 shall be adjustable.

On a basis of an exposure time of about of a second, known in relationto film sensitivity the available light intensity and a rate of film anddocument feed for which the machine is designed, and which it so happenscan be written as of a second, thus corresponding exactly with a wholenumber of current cycles in the case of 60 cycles alternating current,the correct aperture Width can be calculated from:

In actual practice the exposure time is the variable which can bemanipulated by using film of increased sensitivity and/or varying thetotal intensity of illumination, for which latter purpose provision isanyway nearly always provided in the form of a rheostat control, wherebythe degree of illumination can be varied to compensate for varyingcontract in the original documents to be copied.

Once the aperture width has been correctly calculated minor fluctuationin the cycle time,

such as is apt to occur, is unlikely to result in reintroduction of thephenomenon of cycle lines provided a common source of alternatingcurrent is used for illumination and for film and document drive, for inthat way any variation in the illuminating circuit manifests itself ascorr sponding variation in the rate of film and document feed.

The foregoing conclusions are not strictly true if the total intensityacross the aperture i not uniform since, in general, the amount of in--tegrated exposure lost at the first current cycle in such an event willnot be equal to that gained at the last cycle. The variation however isinsignificant if the illumination distribution across the aperture issymmetrical with respect to the center. Such a symmetrical distributioncan be achieved by the use of an additional lamp syrn metrically placedopposite the lamp 22 of Fig. 2, but in practice the intlined mirror 2':can be utilized to throw light from the lamp back onto that side of theaperture remote from the lamp 22 whereby to compensate for any fallingoff of instantaneous intensity across the aperture.

The general layout of the flow film photographic apparatus developedaccording to the present invention for simultaneously microfilm copyingboth sides of a document in the aperture will now be described withreference to the re maining Figs. 3 to 12 inclusive. Thus, as best seeninFl-gs. 3, 5, the electric motor 28 drives the pulley 29 on the jackshaft to through the belt 3i. From a pulley 32 on the jaci; shaft a belt33 drives the pulley 35, see Fig. 5, and thereby the auxiliary shaft 35,on the other end of which is a pulley 3'6 having a direct connectionthrough the belt 31 with the pulley 38, see Fig. 3. Behind the pulley isa pinion 39, see Fig. 5, having a geared connection with a pinion Mi,see Fig. on the shaft 4|, see Fig. .4, of the driven feed roller 42. Aroller 42 on a shaft M cooperates with the driven feed roller 42 fordocument feed. On its outer end the driven feed roller shaft e5 isprovided with an annular boss 45, see Fig. 3, which transmits frictionaldrive to an annulus 45 on an entrance roller shaft 47 through theintermediate clutch actuated roller as mounted on the arm 4.9. The arm49 is pivotally connected at '52! to the clutch lever 53 which its turnis swingable about the pivot 52 lhe path of movement of the arm 49 isfurther controlled by the provision of a slot 53 in the arm for slidingengagement with the fixed pin 54%, see 3, and'the arrangement is suchthat under certain condition of operation, as will later be understoodenergization of the clutch control solenoid 55, see Fig. 3, swings thelever 55 clockwise about its pivot 52 and thus withdraws the roller 43from its drive transmitting engagement between the annuli as and 4B. Inthe position in which the parts are seen in Fig. 3 however, the clutchroller "=3 transmits drive from the annulus 45 to the driven entranceroller shaft 47 through the annulus 66. A pressure roller on the shaftct cooperates with a roller on the shaft 4'1, the shaft for the entranceend feed rollers being supported in the turret formation constituted bythe side support members 5'! and 53 upstanding from the main chassismemher-59.

The general relation of the document feed mechanism, the aperture,fluorescent lighting meansfor illumination of a document in theaperture, and the roller drive will be clearly under stood by comparisonof Figs. 3 and 4. Since, however, Figs. 3 and 4 show the apparatus to avery reduced scale, it is desirable now to refer to Fig. 7 whichillustrates the aperture, lighting arrangements and the document feedmechanism in the immediate vicinity of the aperture to a very muchlarger scale. In Fig. 7, the transparent plates 2a and 29 defining theaperture, the lamp 22-, tubular casing 23 with its slot 2 i, theaperture adjustment plate 25 and the mirror 21 are seen in therelationship already discussed with reference to Fig. 2. Since theembodiment of the invention now being discussed is concerned with doublesided document photography, a similar arrangement is provided at theopposite side of the aperture for illumination and aperture adjustment,such arrangement however is similar and symmetrical and thecorresponding parts are indicated with the same reference numeralsprimed. The arrangement and disposition of the entrance rollers on theirrespective shafts 4? and E6 is clearly seen in '7 and it can here bestated that the entrance rollers are not continuously' cylindrical butas seen "ith reference to Fig. 11 have their eiiective pa ipheralsurfaces constituted by spaced annuli, of which the center annulusindicated in Fig. '7 by the reference nu meral 8D is formed as afrusto-spherical surface the center portion of which makes line contactwith the cooperating annulus 6! of the driven entrance roller. Thearrangement of the entrance rollers is in fact similar to that describedin the copending application Serial No. 895 of Frederick J. Shutt filedon January 7, 1948, and provides in conjunction with straighteningfingers -62 in spaced relationship on the shaft 83, a means forstraightening a document into a position in which its leading edge islocated truly tranversely rela tive to the direction of document feedbefore the document ente-s the aperture.

In operation of the document feed mechanism, a document is fed manuallyor by mechanical sheet feeding means so that about the center of itsleading edge is received between the annuli 63 and iii of the entrancerollers. The ennulus iii of the driven entrance roller rotatesanticlockwise as viewed in 7 and the annulus 66 normally has pointcontact as above described with the driven annulus iii and thus rotatesclockwise as viewed in *1 so that, when the leading edge of a documentis engaged between the annuli, it is fed downwardly through the guide 64constituted by the laterally spaced pairs of suitably curved slats and55. At the entrance end of the guide, the slats t5 and 66 project intothe grooves between adjacent annuli from the entrance rollers and thefunction of the guide is to guide the document in its passage from theentrance rollers into a position for entry between the feed rollers 42and 43. Spring means act on the shaft c3 so that the straighteningfingersfiii are normally projected into the spaces between the adjacentpairs of slats 65 and 66. if a document should be fed between the annuli63- and ea with its edge not truly transverse to the intended directionof document feed, the leading portion of the leading edge of thedocument engages a straightening finger laterallyspaced to one side ofthe cooperating annuli 63 and 5|. The spring loading acting on the shaftE33 is such that, having regard to the point contact of engagementof theannulus so with the document, further travel of the leading portion ofthe leading edge is arrested until the leading edge as a whole engagesall the straightening fingers d2, whereafter the force of the feedingaction then becomes sufficient to overcome the spring loading and swingthe fingers 62 and the shaft 63 as a whole clockwise out of the path ofdocument feed. At its lower end the guide 64 presents the leading edgeof the document to the feed rollers 42 and 43, and the document feed iscontinued so that it enters the open upper edge of the slot between theplates and 2| which define the aperture. Continued operation of thedocument feed mechanism feeds the document through the aperture, and itsleading edge, after passing out at the bottom opening between the plates20 and 2|, is received between the merging belt runs 6'! and 68 engagedover the respective rollers 69 and 10. The belts 6'1 and 68 are drivenas will later be understood for operation as means for conveying thedocument from the aperture to some convenient remote point at which itis discharged from the machine. Meanwhile however it will be seen thatthe shafts. H and 12 mount fingers l3 and 14 respectively, which areengaged by the document prior to its entry into the aperture. The feedrollers 42 and 43, like the entrance rollers, are each formed by thespaced annuli cooperating for document feed and an end plate '15 mountsdepending fingers 16 which project between the annuli of the roller 43to terminate adjacent the upper limit of the aperture. The shafts H and12 are spring loaded so that the respective sets of fingers 13 and 14are normally interdigitated with the fingers 16 but the arrangement issimilar in nature and function to that of the fingers 62 and shaft 63except that the fingers 13 and 14 are on the opposite side of the pathof document travel and cooperate with fingers 16. A switch is associatedwith the shafts H and 12 which is actuated to ensure that as the fingers13 are forced back anticlockwise out of the path of document feed, arelay circuit is completed which, with a slight delay, completes thelighting circuit for the lamps 22 and 22'. The details for the lightingcircuit will be described later but for the present it suffices toexplain that a slight delay is provided by operation of the relaycircuit; the arrangement is such, however, that the lamps are fullyeffective for illumination of a document by the time its leading edgereaches the upper limit of the aperture. The fingers 14 are similarlyactuated and cannot return to the Fig. 7 position until the trailingedge of the document has passed. The shaft 12 controls mechanism toactuate the lamp switch for breaking the relay circuit, and thecorresponding operational delay of the relay ensures that the lampsremain lighted until the trailing edge of the document has passed out atthe bottom of the aperture.

Incidentally, it will be observed that in addition to their switchactuating function, the fingers 13 and 14 also cooperate with thevertical guide fingers 16 to maintain the document substantially flatand vertical for proper presentation of its leading edge to the apertureslot.

The foregoing description dealing with the operation of the feedmechanism for feeding a document into, through and out of the aperturerollers. The path of the belts seen with reference to Fig. 4, wherefromit will be seen that the rollers 10 already discussed in connection withFig. '7, forms one terminal for the endless belts 68, the other terminalof which is the roller 19, which is driven for rotation anticlockwise asviewed in Fig. 4. Tracing the path of the belt 68 from the drive roller79 of Fig. 4, it will be seen that it proceeds as a downward flightpassing under the tensioning roller 80, under the idle roller Bl, overthe roller 10, best seen in Fig. 7, returning under the roller 82 androller 83 back to the drive roller 19. With anticlockwise rotation ofthe drive roller I9, as viewed in Fig. 4, therefore the direction oftravel of the belt 68 is anticlockwise. On the other hand, the directionof travel of the belt 6'! is clockwise and it will be seen from Fig. 4that it engages around the right-hand upper sector of the drive roller19 and therefore derives its drive therefrom. Tracing its path fromthere in the direction of rotation, the belt 61 engages over the upperend rollers 84 and 34a continuing down under the tensioning roller 86and also under the roller 81 from which it runs upwardly over the roller69 returning under the rollers 82 and 83 to the roller 84. The lower runof the belt 68. and the upper run of the belt 61 thus move in contactwith each other defining a continuous path for document conveyance,first downwardly from the aperture then rearwardly to the back of themachine and then upwardly for final forward discharge through the chute11.

As best seen from Fig. 5, the pulley 85 on the shaft of the drive roller19 of the conveyor belt system is driven by the belt 85' from the shaft35 which also drives the entrance rollers 60, GI and the feed rollers4'2, 43, all of which are thus directly driven from the jack shaft 30,making it possible to ensure that all the memhere which cooperate fordocument feed can operate at a common peripheral speed to afford apredetermined rate of document feed throughout the machine.

Certain details of the roller construction and their mounting areapparent from comparison of Figs. 4, 5 and 6. In that respect it will beseen from Fig. 6 that the rollers 80, 81, BI and 86 are grooved and thebelts 51, 63 run in the grooves so that the lower flights of theconveyor belt system are constrained to run in exact alignment with theintended path of document feed. That is an important feature because itwill be appreciated that the leading edge of a long document may be inthe early stages of the conveyor belt system while its trailing end isstill in the aperture, and misalignment of the belts 6! and 68 mighttend to skew the trailing part of the document and so distort the imageproduced on the traveling film. It is also noteworthy that theintermediate rollers 80, 8|, B3 and 86 are cantilever mounted in centerbearings, those for the rollers 80, BI and 83 being carried by the web88 on the underside of the main chassis plate 59. The cantilevermounting of the intermediate rollers is a considerable structuraladvantage from the installation and servicing point of view because,when the apparatus is enclosed by its casing as will later be explained,they are not easily accessible. The cantilever mounting is thus ofadvantage to the extent that the endless belts 61 and 68 can bedisengaged from the intermediate rollers without the necessity forremoving the rollers themselves.

The foregoing description has now explained the document feed rightthrough from entry into the apparatus at the entrance rollers to itsfinal discharge from the chute I1 and it is now necessary to explain howthe illuminated apertured image is reflected and focussedonto movingfilm in the camera. Attention is therefore now directed to Figs. 4, 5and 6. There the camera is seen in dot and dash lines in Fig. 5,indicated by the reference numeral 89. The camera 89 is the subject ofan application of Harold T. Olson Serial No. 119,529 filed concurrentlyherewith but it suffices for the purpose of the present disclosure tostate that it contains film drive mechanism in the form of reductiongearing and rests upon the camera support base 99 which is a substantialcasting suspended from the main frame member 59. Means are provided forlocking the camera to its support base and when in position the lensassembly diagrammatically indicated at 9| is directed downwardly and theimage projected onto the moving film in the camera is that of thereflecting surface of the inclined mirror 92 seen through the slot 93 ofthe camera support base 90.

Camera locating means are provided in the form of the guide brackets59', see Figs. 5 and 6, attached to the chassis plate 59, and sinceexact location of the camera 89 is of paramount importance-the camera isprovided at its underside with holes which engage the pegs 99', see Fig.6 provided in the camera support base. Since, however, the pegs 90' willbe concealed by the camera as it is being inserted the guide bracketsare formed with downwardly tapering slots 59", see Fig. 6, forcooperation with pegs projecting from the ends of the camera tofacilitate its correct functioning. Micro-switch means are alsopreferably provided on the support base 99 for actuation to complete theoperating circuit only when the camera is in position and when it isloaded with film. Electric contact means are provided within the camerafor indicating when the film supply is nearly used up, when thereceiving spool is full, or when a film feed defect develops. Terminalconnection for such means are mounted with switch actuating plungers onthe insulated bases 90", see Figs. 5 and 6, on top of the camera supportbase.

Reverting to the other end of the apparatus, the mirrors 94 and, 95 areinclined at an angle of approximately 45 degrees, the former in frontand the latter behind the aperture. The mirrors themselves are perhapsbest seen with reference to Fig. 6 but there the aperture, lamps anddocument feed mechanism in the vicinity of the aperture have beenomitted, and their relation to the aperture at the first stage isclearly indicated in Fig. 4 and fragmentarily in Fig. '4'. The travelingimage of the front of a document in its passage through the illuminatedaperture is reflected onto the front half of the reflecting surface ofthe inclined transverse second stage mirror 96. The traveling image ofthe back of a document is simultaneously reflected by the mirror 95through the clear glass plate 9': onto the rear half of the reflectingsurface of mirror 96, and thus the back and front images appear side byside on the reflecting surface of the second stage mirror 96. As will beseen in Fig. 5, the second stage mirror 96 reflects the images onto thereflecting surface of the third stage mirror 98 from which the imagesare picked up by the fourth stage mirror 92 already referred to andreflected therebythrough the lens which '10 focuses the'two images inside by side relation. on the traveling film.

The clear glass plate 9'! interposed between the first stage mirror andsecond stage mirror 99, does not interfere with the reflection of theimage of the back of the document onto the second stage mirror 99 andthe function of the clear glass plate 91 is to reflect index data fromthe illuminated index projector 99 into the optical path of the secondstage mirror 96 for periodically recording index data on the film. Theindex data is however applied by a manual control when the film isstationary and the mechanism and the method of operating it aredescribed in the copending application Serial No. 119,526, nowabandoned, of William W. Eaton and Harold '1. Olson filed concurrentlyherewith.

It may be stated that the employment of four reflecting stages as abovedescribed provides a long optical path which is very desirable in doublesided document photography where the images are to be photographed sideby side. In that respect, it will be appreciated that for such purposesit is necessary for the camera lens to cover an angle somewhat greaterthan twice that required to cover the image of one side alone at thesame distance. Provision of a long optical path in the arrangementaccording to the present invention however makes it possible to takeadvantage of the improved definition at smaller angles of coverage. Thearrangement of the mirrors and the mechanism of the apparatus as a Wholealso enables the machine to be shaped for final enclosure in a casingwhich presents many advantages from the operational point of view aswill later be understood with reference to Fig. 11.

The camera drive for film feed is taken off the pulley I99 on the end ofthe jack shaft 99, see Fig. 5, through the belt I9I engaging over thepulley I92 on the countershaft I93 which drives through bevel gearing avertical shaft leading up to the flexible coupling I94 projectingthrough the camera support base 90. It will be appreciated that sincethe film drive is thus taken off the jack shaft 30 from which documentfeed drive is also derived, the jack shaft is virtually the masterdriving member and the exact rate of document feed can be calculatedfrom the jack shaft R. P. M. having regard to the fact that the driveratio in the document feed stage is known. Knowing the exact rate ofdocument feed the aperture is proportioned accordingly, for example asseen with reference to the fragmentary showing in Fig. 8 where theaperture adjustment plate 25' is provided with end slots, one of whichis indicated by the reference numeral 595 and through which theadjustment screw I99 engages support !01, see also Fig. 7, for one endof the mirror 21. The ends of the casings 2-3 and 23 for the tubularlamps are rigidly secured in the walls 51 and 58 and therefore the lowerextremities of the casings cooperate with the upper edges of therespective aperture adjustment plates 25 and 25 to define the aperturequite positively. The terminal connections for the lamps are preferablyin the form of disconnectable rubber connectors each formed with anannular portion to engage in the open ends of the casings 29 and 23 forproper location of the lamps within the casings. Openings are providedin the end walls 5! and 59 through which the lamps are accessible forinspection, cleaning and replacement. For correct positioning of theplates 29 and 2i the plates are preferably joined at their ends forremoval as a unit and are located by end frames attached to the endwalls, the frame on the end wall 58 being indicated in Fig. 7 by thereference numeral I3. The unit constituted by the plates 20 and 2| isalso removable for cleaning through an opening in the outer end wall 53,see Fig. 3, and a micro-switch, not shown, is provided on the oppositeend wall 5? which is actuated to complete the operating circuit onlywhen the plate unit is correctly installed thereby to ensure that theapparatus cannot be operated with the plate unit out or incorrectlyinserted.

In the previous explanation of the operation of the document feed in theimmediate vicinity of the aperture certain constructional details wereomitted and it is desirable that they should now be explained. In thatrespect attention is now directed to Figs. 7, 9 and 10 taken inconjunction with each other. One such detail is concerned with thefacility for gaining access to the document feed mechanism in theimmediate vicinity of the feed rollers 42 and 43 should it be necessaryfor removing a document which having passed the entrance rollers doesnot properly engage between the feed rollers 42 and 43. The shaft 63which mounts the straightening lever 62, the shaft 44 of the feed roller43 and the assembly of fixed guide fingers 76 are mounted by plates oneat each end, one of which is best seen at I 08 in Fig. '7, and thearrangement provides an assembly pivoted to swing about the shaft I59. Atubular housing H 3 extending between the operating end plates 108encloses the bolts H l and H2 which have operating members H3 and H4respectively projecting out through the respective slots H5 and H6 and aspring I ll urges the bolts outwardly for engagement with appropriatelyspaced holes in the end walls 5'! and 58 to secure the pivoted assemblyin the full line operative position of Fig. 7. Thus if access isrequired to the feed mechanism the operator can grip the bolt actuatingmembers H3 and H4 to retract the bolts and swing the pivoted assemblyinto the clot and dash line position of Fig. 7.

Another detail feature of the document feed mechanism omitted from theaforegoing description concerns the provision of a double documentcontrol, the function of which is to interrupt the feed if two documentsare engaged between the entrance rollers simultaneously. Like the aryrangement and operation of the straightening fingers, the doubledocument control of the apparatus according to the present invention isvery similar in nature and function to the double document controldescribed in the aforesaid Shutt application Serial No. 895. It isdesirable that the double document control should now be brieflydescribed. In that respect, the mounting of the entrance roller shaft 56in the end wall 58, see Fig. 3, is such as to permit limited rockingaction about that end of the shaft, and, with the weight of theassembly, the center annulus 60 of the pressure roller engages thecooperating annulus 6| of the driven entrance roller so that, when adocument is engaged between the entrance rollers, the annulus 60separates from its peripheral engagement with the annulus 6i and the endof the shaft 56 swings upwardly about its bearing in the end wall 58being guided in a suitably shaped slot in the end wall 51. As will beseen from Fig. 10, which is a view looking on the outside of the endwall 57, it will be seen that the end of the shaft engages in the slotH8 of the end wall 51 and is urged downwardly toward the bottom of theslot by the tension springs H9 directed to Fig. 3.

and I20. A bracket I2I, mounted to rock about the pivot I22, carries amicro-switch I23, having a switch actuating arm I24, swingable about itspivot 25 on the bracket. At its free end the bracket I2! has a dependingprojection I26 for engagement with the cam l2'I which can be rotated bymeans of a thickness gauge adjustment wheel I28 to adjust the angularrelationship of the bracket [2! about its pivot I22. The tension springI29 operates to hold the projection in engagement with the cam and itwill be seen that if the adjustment wheel I28 is turned clockwise asviewed in Fig. 10, the increasing lift action of the cam I21 will raisethe free end of the bracket l2l correspondingly. It will be apparentthat a very slight movement of the shaft 56, in the direction of thearrow shown in Fig. 10, will actuate the micro-switch I23 but if thefree end of the bracket is raised as above described, a greater movementof the shaft 56 in the direction of the arrow will be required toactuate the switch. Actuation of the micro-switch I23 is utilized toenergize the solenoid 55, see Fig. 3, for interrupting the drive of theentrance roller shaft 41, and it will therefore be appreciated that thecam I2'I can be set to accommodate a document of predetermined thicknessbetween the annuli 60 and 6! without actuation of the micro-switch I23.On the other hand, if two documents of the predetermined thickness getbetween the annuli 60 and 6| in overlapping relationship, the excessivemovement of the switch actuating end of the shaft 56 will immediatelyresult in actuation of the microswitch with corresponding energizationof the clutch control solenoid 55 for interrupting drive of the entrancerollers.

The rate of document feed is fairly rapid and since, in its operation toprevent two documents getting into the region of the aperture in theoverlapping relationship, it is important that operation of the doubledocument control switch shall immediately stop drive of the entranceroller shaft 41, a pawl and ratchet arrangement is provided, in whichrespect attention is now again As was previously explained, withreference thereto the solenoid control clutch actuating lever 5| swingsclockwise about its pivot 52 with energization of the solenoid towithdraw the clutch roller 48 from its drive transmitting engagementbetween the annuli and 46.. The drive to the driven entrance rollershaft 41 is thus interrupted, but overrunning of the shaft 41 mightstill result in undesirable continuation of document feed. To preventsuch overrunning, the upper end of the clutch actuating lever 5| iscoupled to the pawl I36 which is pivotable about a projection extendingout from the wall 56. The pawl is normally held in the disengagedposition by the tension spring HI and with energization of the solenoidswinging the clutch actuating lever 5| about its pivot 52, the free endof the pawl is projected into engagement with the teeth on the ratchetwheel I32 on the end of the shaft 4'! so that the shaft 41 thus stopsinstantly. In that way it is impossible for two documents to passthrough the entrance rollers, and rejected documents can be withdrawnfrom the intake side of the entrance rollers without having to open upthe casing for access to the interior of the apparatus. Moreover, it isonly the entrance roller drive which is stopped by the double documentcontrol and any document still in the machine will be fed andphotographed without interrup-- tion. The feed rollers 42 and 43 neednot necessarily be yieldably mounted for it suflices taprovide them witha resilient layer of rubber or other suitable material as indicated bythe section of Fig. 7.

Fig. also serves to show the arrangement of levers I33 and I34respectively on the ends of the shafts H and I2 which are documentactuated through the respective sets of fingers I3 and 74. It will beseen that the actuating arm I35 of the illuminating circuit switch I36is connected to the actuating lever I33 by the bolt I31 and thus, withrotation of the lever I33 anticlockwise as viewed in Fig. 10, againstresistance of the spring I38 as the fingers I3, best seen in Fig. 7, areforced back by the document, the switch I35 will be actuated forcompleting the illuminating circuit. The lever I34 is connected to theswitch actuating arm I35, and as the fingers H, best seen in Fig. 7,return under the influence of the spring I35, Fig. 10, as the trailingedge of the document passes, the switch will be actuated to break thecircuit.

It will be appreciated that the main chassis plate 59, the camerasupport base 90, its suspension and the supports for the mirrorsconstitute a. rigid chassis structure which tends to eliminate anypossibility of vibration of the camera relative to the aperture. Thechassis as a whole can be suspended from the rectangular girder frameI46, best seen in Figs. 5 and 6, which can be welded or otherwisesecured in a casing of sheet metal of substantial gauge. The motor asseen in Fig. 3 can be similarly mounted preferably remotely and quiteseparately from the chassis to eliminate the possibility of motorvibration being transmitted. to the chassis.

The general arrangement of document feed, the drive, the optical system,camera mounting etc., is such that the mechanism may be installed in acasing which is very convenient from the operational point of view. Thusthe casing as seen in Fig. 11 can take the form of a desk presenting aflat upper surface at normal desk level so that an operator can workseated or standing as he or she may desire. Since there is noappreciable projection of mechanism below the chassis plate on theentrance side of the document side of the document feed mechanism, spaceis available to accommodate the knees of a seated operator.

As will be seen from Fig. 11, the casing, generally indicated by thereference numeral MI, has a substantial trunk portion I42 from front toback at the left-hand side of the machine. Th trunk portion serves toenclose the camera compartment, the second, third and fourth mirrorstages, the camera and its drive mechanism. Since the motor 28 islocated at the back on the right-hand side of the machine it is notnecessary for the motor casing M3 to extend to the front of the machine,which feature makes it possible not only to provide the knee space underthe righthand. front portion of the machine, but also to eliminate anyleg or supporting structure extending down to floor level at theright-hand front end. That latter feature is highly desirable becausemany operators find it easier to feed documents rapidly from the side ofthe machine and with the elimination of any structural member at theoutside of the knee space, it is possible for an operator to movequickly to the side of the machine without rising from a seated posture.

The girder frame member I can be accommodated within the depth of thedesk top por tion I44.

The downwardly inclined slightly recessed panel portion 5 of Fig. 11,and also fragmentarily indicated in Fig. 4, provides a convenientsupport for documents being fed into the entrance rollers, and whenmechanical sheet feeding means are employed such means can be supportedon the panel I45. The side panels I46 and I4! serve for mounting thevarious controls in the form of press button switches, the adjustmentwheel of the double document control already described and a similaradjustment wheel for an illumination intensity control operable tocompensate for various document contrasts or different filmsensitivities. Access doors are provided through which the internalmechanism can be reached, for example, I48 indicates a hinged accessdoor through which the pivoted assembly embodying the rear feed roller43 can be reached; the door I48 gives access to the camera compartment;the drawer I50 at the front of the trunk portion I42 gives access to thethird and fourth mirror stages for cleaning and adjustment. I5lindicates a hinged cover plate which is preferably transparent andprovides for access to the index unit referred to in connection withFig. 6 and also seen in end elevation in Fig. 3. The hinged door I52 onthe top of the head fitting l8 enclosing the upper part of the dischargeend of the conveyor belt system,

gives access to the discharge chute 'II, seen in Figs. 3 and 4 and canbe opened or removed to provide for attachment of an endorser unit asdescribed in the aforesaid application of the applicants hereof SerialNo. 119,529 filed concurrently herewith. An access door is also providedat the right-hand end of the desk top portion i i-l through which theaperture plate assembly 26, 2i and the lamps 22 and 22 are accessible.Additionally, it is preferable that the back panel shail be removable asa Whole to facilitate access to the drive mechanism.

The reference numeral I53 indicates a transparent panel behind which islocated a series of pilot lights which operate to give visual signals.For example, appropriate pilot lights, light up when film on the supplyspools is nearly running out, when the receiving spool is nearly full,or if the aperture plate or the camera is not correctly installed. It isalso desirable that a pilot signal light shall indicate whether thecamera is loaded for double sided or single sided photography, whichconveniently can be achieved by substituting difierent cameras havingappropriate circuits made through the contacts on the camera supportbase 99.

The over head discharge leaves the discharged documents accessible forcollection at desk level and from the seated position the indicatorpanel I53 is very apparent. The absence of any ground engaging supportat the right-hand front part of the machine in no way interferes withthe steady supporting of the machine on the floor since there is littleor no mechanism of any substantial weight enclosed by that part of thecasing, and consequently the center of gravity of the machine as a wholeis on the other side of a diagonal extending between the left-hand frontcorner and the right-hand rear corner of the casing.

The electrical circuit of the apparatus will now be described withreference to Fig. 12.

In Fig. 12 the circuit is shown in a condition which corresponds to anidle setting of the machine ready for operation.

The main power supply lines are indicated at 54, I55 with the usual fuseI58 in the line I55. To prevent possibility of fogging the travelingfilm in the camera and also for reasons of safety, switches are providedon all access doors, but for the purpose or" the diagrammatic showingthey may be illustrated as embodied, with the exception of two switchesactuated by the camera access door, in the single switch showingindicated at I51. The main on and off switch is indicated at I53. Thecamera door access switches are indicated at I60 and ItI. With thecircuit appropriately completed through the access door and cameraswitches, the main power relay I59 is actuated by the start reset switch232 as will later be understood. The motor here indicated by thereference numeral 28 corresponding with its showing in Figs. 8 anddrives the jack shaft 30, best seen in Fig. 5, the circuit normallybeing completed. through the line I62 including the electro-magnet coilI59a, the normally closed timer switch I63 and the camera actuatedplunger switch I64. With the circuit thus closed through the line I52,the electro-magnet I59a is energized, and the switch contact blades,I59b and I59c are actuated to close the power relay circuit with theresult that a circuit is completed through the line I65 including themotor 28, which is thus driven. The line I54 can be traced through tothe manual space relay I66 to the movable contact blade I66a thereof,which normally feeds current through the line I61 to the primary winding58 of the 115 volt transformer, the other end of which is connected tothe line 55. With current flowing to the primary transformer winding IE8the 24 volt secondary windings I69, I10, I1I, I12, I13, I14, I areenergized. Energization of the secondary winding I69 results in flow oflow voltage current in a control circuit.

The control circuit includes the camera empty and camera full indicatorswitches I16 and I11 respectively, the aperture glass position switchI18, which is adapted to open if the aperture glass is out or isincorrectly inserted, and the camera actuated contact switches I19, I80and IBI. The switches I19, I11, I19 and I80 are camera actuated, I16being associated with the film supply spool and tension control, and I11with the film receiver spool to indicate when the supply of film isalmost run out or when there is no film at all in the camera or whenfilm tension is lost. The switches I16 and I11 are brought into circuitthrough contacts provided on the insulator blocks 90" on the camerasupport base 90, best seen in Figs. 4 and 5, and I19, I80 and I8I areplunger switches also on the camera support base for actuation by theappropriate camera, as

are also the camera actuated plunger switches I64 and a correspondingswitch I6 IA later to be described. Switches I16, I11 and I18 each havea pilot light wired in parallel therewith as indicated respectively atI16, I11 and I18. I19 is a plunger switch associated with the cameraposition light I19. The switch I80 likewise is a plunger switch which isselectively operated by alternative cameras according to whether theapparatus is being used for double sided or single sided photography andis associated with the pilot lights I80 and I80.

It is perhaps convenient here to state that when the apparatus is to beused for double sided document photography a camera is used for 36:1reduction but if only one side of a document has to be copied such alarge reduction is unnecessary and a 19:1 reduction is employed, therate of film feed being increased correspondingly. Generally,alternative cameras are intended to be available for the alternativereductions and the camera operated plunger switches I64, I64A, I19, Iand I8I are set up appropriately by coded actuating members provided onthe base of the alternative cameras.

In addition to the aforesaid pilot lights, there is also a lamp outpilot light I82. The pilot lights are mounted in the apparatus behindthe glass panel seen at I53 in Fig. 11, and the arrangement is such thatappropriate signals will thus be visible to the operator of the machine.

Provided the circuit is appropriately completed through the switches ofthe control circuit, the low voltage circuit through the transformersecondary winding I69 will be closed through the lines I83 and I84.Since all the secondary windings I19, I1I, I12, I13, I14 and I15 areenergized at the same time as the 24 volt winding I69, low voltagecurrent flows for preheating the filaments of the fluorescent lamps hereagain indicated by the reference numerals 22 and 22 corresponding totheir showing, for example, in Figs. 4 and 8. It will be seen that eachlamp filament circuit also includes an electromagnetic relay controllingthe respective switches I85, I86, I81 and I88 which switches arenormally open but are actuated for closure on energization of therespective relays provided the filaments of the lamps 22 and 22 areintact. The control relay is thus energized through the line I90 to openthe control relay switch I9 I. Until the control relay switch is openedcurrent could normally flow through the line I92 to the entrance rollerdeclutch solenoid herein again indicated by the reference numeral 55corresponding to its showing in Fig. 3, but with the closure of thecontrol relay switch I9I, the solenoid is deenergized and drive istransmitted to the entrance rollers.

With the setup so far described, closure of the switch I58 with thecircuit appropriately completed through all access door switches andthey control circuit, the circuit to the motor is completed through themain power relay on momentary actuation of the start reset switch 232and the motor operates. Documents will not be accepted by the entrancerollers of the machine for document feed, however, until the entranceroller clutch actuating solenoid is deenergized on breakage of thecircuit at the control relay switch I89a. If the camera is out ofposition or has inadvertently not been inserted in the machine, theswitch I19 will remain closed in the position shown and the cameraposition pilot light will light up. With the camera properly installedthe switch I80 will be actuated and one of the pilotlights I80 or I80will light up to give'a signal indication of whether the machine isoperative for single sided or double sided photography, and the switchI8! will dictate whether the filaments of one or both of the lamps 22,22 will be brought into the preheating circuit. If any of the switchesof the control circuit are open, the control relay will not be energizedand though the motor will be driven, the entrance rollers will not bedriven for document feed because the entrance roller drive occurs onlywhen the entrance roller declutch solenoid 55 is deenergized withenergization of the control relay, which cannot occur if the controlcircuit is open.

If the machine is fully operative as so far described, a document willnow be accepted at the entrance rollers, and as it engages the fingers13, best seen in Fig. 7, the document actuated switch, here representedagain by reference numeral I38 in accordance with its showing in Fig.10, will be 17 actuated. On actuation of the switch I35, its movablecontact arm I36a is swung across from the position in which it is seenin Fig. 12 to complete the circuit from the line I92 through the lineI94 including the movable contact arm 53cc to the camera clutch controlsolenoid I95 and the camera is driven from the jack shaft for film feed.Previously with the switch ltta in the position in which it is seen inFig. 12, the electromagnetic document relay I96 was energized throughthe line I97, but as the document actuated switch arm ISIia is actuatedto the circuit to the line I 91, the document relay Hi6 is deenergized,and the switches Itfia, I961) and i660 move to their normally closedsetting as shown. With closure of the switches ISBa and I951), currentflows from the line I94 through the line i 98 including the switchcontact arms Illfia and I961) to the primary winding of the 450 volttransformer I89 connecting the circuit across to the line l55. Withenergization of the primary of the high voltage transformer I99, highvoltage current is induced in the secondary winding and flows throughthe line 208 including the movable contact arm 26 id of the index datarelay 2M and the combined choke and variable resistance 28?! into thefilament circuit of the fluorescent lamp 22. The high voltage ionizationcurrent bridges the filaments causing the lamp 22 to be fully effectivefor illumination, the circuit back to the other side of the secondary ofthe transformer its returning through the switch IBI, and from thereeither direct to the line 263 through the adjustable resistance 294 or,if as seen in Fig. 12 the switch it! is set for double documentphotography, through the filament circuit of the lamp 2.2 forillumination thereof, to the adjustable resistance 294. The fluorescentlamps are thus rendered fully effective for either double sided orsingle sided photography according to the setting of the switch I8I forappropriate illumination of the document aperture. Conversely, when thedocument actuating switch I36 is actuated by the trailing edge of thedocument, the circuit to the primary of the high voltage transformer I99is broken through the document relay wt and the illumination circuit isopened.

At this point it is desirable to stress the im-- portance of th lightingcircuit and the document relay. In that respect, it will be appreciatedthat the lamp or lamps, as the case may be, must be fully effective forillumination by the time the leading edge of a document reaches theaperture, and instantaneous ionization is therefore essential oncompletion of the circuit through the high voltage transformer I99. thatthe filament circuit was previously kept preheated, and the ionizationstarter 295 connected to the line 235 including the capacitor 29? isincluded as an additional aid to instantaneous starting. The documentrelay I96, including as it does an electro-magnetic actuating member,affords a slight delay in resetting the document relay to break thecircuit to the high voltage transformer its. That is an importantfeature because the fingers which actuate the document control switchI36 are necessarily on the delivery side of the aperture and, if thehigh voltage circuit were hroken instantaneously as the trailing edge ofthe document actuated the switch I38, the illuminating circuit would bebroken and the lamp or lamps extinguished before the whole of.

the document had passed through the aperture. The delay however ensuresa time lag in actual breaking of the illumination circuit which is adequate to ensure that the trailing edge of the docu- It is for thatreason ment remains fully illuminated throughout its passage through theaperture. The circuit through the line fist, switches I85, I86, I8I, I8?and I88, including the lamp filaments and their appropriateelectromagnetic relays returns back to the control circuit along theline 293, and it will be realized that failure or" a lamp filament willcause current to flow through the lamp out pilot light I82 and thecurrent through coil of the control relay I89 will be decreased, causingit to fall out, with the result that the pilot light I82 will light upgiving an appropriate indication lamp failure and, in addition, theentrance roller declutch solenoid 55 will be energized to declutch theentrance roller drive and prevent entry of any further documents intothe machine.

In normal operation of the machine, documents are fed into the machinein rapid succession and the sequence of operations so far described fordocument feed, film feed and document illumination in the aperturecontinues. Continued operation can, however, be interrupted by severaladditional control means.

One such control is constituted by the double document controlpreviously discussed, and which is here embodied in the Fig. 12 showingas the thickness control switch here again represented by the referencenumeral I23 corresponding with its showing in Fig. 10. When two or moredocuments of the predetermined thickness for which the double documentcontrol is set, engage in overlapping relationship between the entranceroller annuli cc and iii, the contact I23a. of the switch I23 which isnormally open in the position shown, is swung over to close against afixed contact and complete the circuit to the entrance roller declutchsolenoid, with the result that the entrance roller drive is instantlystopped despite the fact that the control relay switch I9I remainsclosed. Opening of the control relay and the provision of any specialsignal light is unnecessary because the defect is immediately apparentwithin the field of the operators vision and can be corrected by manualwithdrawal of the defective documents. Since it is only the entranceroller drive which is interrupted, any documents already in the machinewill b processed and conveyed for final discharge out of the machine.

Having copied a number of documents pertinent to particular matter, forexample, documents originating in a certain town under perhaps a certaindate heading, it will generally be desirable to index the film and forthat reason an index data projector is provided. The index dataprojector is indicated in Figs. 3 and 6 by the reference numeral 99, andcomprises a series of adjustable bands which can be set up manually toprovide the desired index data. The data so set up is illuminated by theindex lamp 299 which preferably is also a tubular fluorescent lamp. Theilluminated image of the index data is reflected across the machine ontothe skew glass 9'? of Fig. 6 which, due to its angular relationship. tothe incident image of the index data, op-

. crates to reflect the index data illuminated image into the opticalpath at the reflector 15. The index data switch 25% is normally providedon one of the control panels E45, l l'l of the machine, see Fig. 11,and, when operated, the movable contact arm completes a circuit throughthe line 2i 5 including the relay coil of the index data relay and themovable contact arm Elia of the time delay device M2, resulting inenergizatien of the relay consequent attraction of the contact arms 2%la, 26H) and 2&3 Ic of the index data relay. With swinging of thecontact arm 2am away from the position in which it is seen in Fig. 12completing the high voltage circuit to the filaments of the lamps 22 and22, the illumi--- nating circuit to the lamps is broken, but instead acircuit is completed through the line 2I3 including the filaments of theindex data lamp 2% returning to the high voltage circuit at theadjustable resistance film. The contact arm Edlo is necessary tocomplete the circuit from the line I54 to the primary Or" the highvoltage transformer through the line 2H! including the contact armElllb, because the index data switch intended to be actuated only whenno documents are being fed, under which condition the circuit throughthe document relay to the primary of the high voltage transformer E23will be open at the contact arm Iilfib of the document relay. 2221)represents a rectifier which provides a time lag in energization of therelay coil Zlflc. The time lag provided ensures that after thepredetermined lapse of time the relay coil Zlzlc will become energizedand then will open the normally closed contact arm 2i2c to restore thecircuit for normal operation by the document switch I36 when furtherdocuments are into the machine. Since it is necessary for properrecording of the projected image data on the to provide the full degreeof exposure provided for by the time lag, through the contact arm Ziilcto hold the index data relay for the predetermined exposure time despitethe fact that the press button controlling the index data switch may beheld on too long or prematurely released.

For sub-division of groups of items it is often desirable to provide formanually controlled spacing consisting of, for example, three inches ofunexposed film at the termination of one group before starting the next.manual space control switch is provided on one of the panels Hit or l llof Fig. 11, such switch being here indicated in Fig. 1.2 by thereference numeral 2 l5. On actuation of the manual space switch M5, thecontact arm thereof is swung from the normally open switch position inwhich it is here shown to the closed position in which it closes acircuit from the line 2H3 branched off the line I82 and including therelay coil of the manual space relay, the movable contact arm of thethree inch timer switch 2 ill, and the can era actuated plunger switchIEl iA to the line constituting the other side of the circuit.

The three inch timer includes a clutch element 2I8, which is poweractuated on an energization of the coil ZIS by closure or the manualspace relay contact arm I66?) in the line 22! wt energization of therelay, to drive the from the jack shaft. The switch contact IEGA of themanual space relay on the end of the line I54 connects, withenergization of the relay, through the line 222 with the line We forenergization of the camera clutch solenoid 5255. The cam 220 normallyresets itself to a starting position from which, with a predeterminedrotation, its projection 2'25! engages the contact arm 2 I! to break thetimer circuit, during which time however, with operation of the cameraclutch, about three inches of film will feed through the camera. Sincewith closure or the circuit through the manual space relay contact armiEt'A across the lines Izid, the circuit isbroken to the line Ibl, theprimary of the low voltage trans-- former I88 is cut out of the circuitand the lamps are rendered ineffective, and the traversed three acircuit is completed 0 For that purpose, a

20 inches of film are left unexposed. The contact arm Itfic of themanual space relay serves to hold the relay in pending the time cycle,and dictates the positive spacing despite mon'ientary action of themanual space switch 215.

In the copending application of Harold T. Olson, Serial No. 71,942,filed January 21, 19%9, there is described a system of indexing by meansof which the image of a signal light may be projected onto a marginalportion of the travel ing film to produce a signal strip alongsidedocument images in the finally processed film. Means may be optionallyembodied in the apparatus according to the present invention to achievesuch indexing by operation of a conveniently spaced. manually controlledsignal strip switch 223 for energiza-tion of the signal strip relay andthe signal strip solenoid 225 connected in circuit with the timer andcamera clutch solenoid for operation in the same manner as the manualspace switch 2I5. Thus with operation of the signal strip switch 223,the signal strip can be repeated alongside the documents photographed onabout the next three inches of film.

If the camera actuated plunger switch l'etA is set for 19:1 ratio drivereduction used for single sided photography, the timer cycle will bemade through the contact arm 2 I M but since the magnification and rateof film feed is nearly double, about three inches of film will still befed for each operation of the timing cycle whether it is initiated bythe manual space switch 2 ill or the signal strip switch 223.

Somewhat similar in nature and operation to that of the three inch timercycle is the three foot timer cycle actuated by the cam 225, thefunction of which cycle is to wind about three feet at each end of thefilm as leader and trailer strip in accordance with the normal procedurein microfilm document photography. Thus, when nearly all available filmsupply on the film supply spool has been used up, the contact arm ill,which is embodied in the camera in association with the takeup spool,opens the control circuit and the camera full pilot lamp i'll' lights upand the camera should then be removed from the machine. Operation of thecamera access door I 19, see Fig. 11, efiects momentary actuation of thecamera access door switches Itll and IfiI for energization of the leadertrailer relay 22? as the contact arm IBI is swung over momentarily toconnect the line 228 through 229 and contact arm Iflfia of the documentrelay I96 which. latter is in the position in which it is shown in Fig.12 with energization of the document relay coil since no documents arenow being fed to the machine for operation or" the document relayswitch. With energization of the leader trailer relay, the contact arm221a connects the lines I92 and the for energization of the entranceroller declutch sole-- hold 55 to stop entrance roller drive, thecontact arm 22??) similarly completing the circuit to the camera clutchsolenoid for camera drive while at the same time the contact arm 2270serves to hold the relay in circuit despite momentary actuation of thecamera door switch Ilil. Simultaneously, with energization of the timerclutch coil 23b in the line 23I, the camera door switch contact armhaving now returned to the position in which it is shown after itsmomentary actuation, the three foot timer cycle is started and continuedin a manner the same as that described with reference to the operationof the three inch timer cycle. The three foot timer cycle continues witfilm food d ive and interruption of the entrance 21 roller drive untilits cycle is completed with. opening of the circuit either at thecontact arm E53 or the contact arm l63a, according to the setting of thecamera actuated plunger switch whereafter the main power relay drops outto stop the machine.

A similar three foot timer cycle occurs with closure of the access doorswitch Itfi when the newly loaded camera is inserted in order to windapproximately three feet of film as leader strip which may have beenfogged in the loading procedure. It is to be noted that providing theaccess door safety switches and the main on and off switch I58 areclosed, the leader trailer cycle will always be initiated regardless ofwin ther the motor is running or not.

The circuit provides for entirely automatic operation of the apparatus.Thus, with the access door switch l? and the main on and off switch I58closed, closure of the camera access door after reloading the camerawith new :iilin actuates the camera door switches H ll and l e l, o ning in the power relay to run the motor. At the same time, the solenoidof document relay tee is energized with the result that the circuit iscompleted through the contact arm Hits, line 2251, camera door switchit! and line including the coil 238 which is thus energized to start thethree foot timer cycle, the motor continues to operate until the powerrelay i551 drops out with breaking of the circuit at the arm ltd or i Eaas the case may be, whereupon the r ctor wi l stop. It should be notedthat with act:

ii of the camera access door switch the ca iera clutch solenoid I95 isenergized through the re lay 22'! and the camera is thus driven filmduring any three foot timer cycle ii J ated by actuating the cameraaccess door switches. To set up the machine for photographing, the startreset switch 232 is actuated. momentarily which energizes the coil i591;causing the contacts lath and lSSo to close to start the motor and intain the current through the coil ltctula of the switch 232 to theposition in which it is seen in Fig. 12 subsequent to its momentaryactuation, reenergizes the document relay lee again to set up thecircuit for energization of the coil 23% and the result of that is that,if no documents are fed to the machine before the three feet cam 225completes its cycle, the relay coil lilac will he deenergized, and thepower supply to the machine will be broken by the opening of thecontacts lStb and 5530. Normal feedin of do uments, of course, overridesthe three feet er but its cycle starts as soon as there is ce used,because installation of the e camera sets up the switch I64 accordingly,as is also the case with the switch 585a associated with the three inchtimer.

it is also of considerable operational advantage that in addition to thesignalling of defects in timer cycles. Similarly if it is desired tonullify operation of the thickness control switch I23, the by-passswitch 233 can be actuated to deenergize the entrance roller declutohsolenoid for continuing document feed. That is especially convenient.where, for example, a few checks remain to be copied when the camerafull signal is given. The operator can then, by holding down th by-passswitch 233, nullify operation of the control circuit causing theentrance rollers to turn to accommodate a few more records on thepreliminary part of the trailer strip.

The nature of the camera switches I16 and I'll will be fu-y understoodwith reference to the aforesaid application of Harold T. Olson, SerialNo. 119,529v filed concurrently herewith. In addition to the camera fulland. camera empty switches, the camera may embody another switchactuated by film breakage or by a defect in film feed as described inthat application. A separate pilot light may be associated with thatswitch circuit as part of the control circuit but in general it sufficesto utilize the camera empty pilot light also as an indication of anydefect developed in film feed. In

that respect it will be appreciated that, for all practical operatingpurposes, film feed defect and camera empty signals are virtuallysynonymous, at least insofar as they call for immediate attention to thecamera. Since the camera embodies a film footage indicator at the topwhich is immediately apparent on opening of the camera access door, theoperator can tell at once whether the camera is really empty, or whetherthe film feed has developed a defect, and. can attend to the matteraccordingly.

Since, in general, it will be desirable to record the number of copiestaken by the machine, the solenoid 23 can the included in the documentrelay circuit for actuation of a counter at each operation of thdocument actuated switch 36.

The combined choke and variable resistance 2&2 is operable forvaryii'ig, the high voltage current flowing to the lamps Z2, 22 andthereby to control the illumination intensity, which is desirable notonly to compensate for different document contrasts, but also tofacilitate obtain ng the proper relation between exposure, rate ofdocument feed and the required aperture width.

It is to be understood that the foregoing desoription deals with thefullest embodiment of the invention providing a machine which isautomatic and practically fool proof in operation. Many of therefinements referrerd to are not fundam-entaliy necessary. Thus,provided the aper ture is correctly proportioned, the lamps for documentillumination in the aperture could be kept alight permanently duringoperation of the machine, and the document feed relay i538 along withthe document actuated switch i333 could then be eliminated. Thethickness control, though desirable, could also be omitted, as well asthe automatic timer cycle controls for winding trailer and lead stripsand for manual spacing, both of which could in a simpler form of themachine be done by a manual winding ope-ration. The indexing circuitscould also he eliminated entirely. The pilot lamps for indicating thecondition of the circuit are desirable in some form or other, but theyneed not be so connected in the circuit as to achieve automatic stoppageof the machine through the control circuit as hereinbeiore described forit would be simple matter for the operator to stop the machine by

